THE SNP are calling on the Tories to meet their rhetoric with "real action" on child poverty as the UK Government has made "no assessment" on the impact of removing a £20 uplift to Universal Credit.
It was announced in the March budget by Chancellor Rishi Sunak that the £20-a-week uplift to Universal Credit (UC) was to be continued until September, but there are no plans to extend it further.
The SNP have previously said that removing the extra money will be "catastrophic" for many unless there is other support in place for families.
The party has also said that removing the uplift will neutralise the beneficial effects of the newly introduced Scottish Child Payment, given to parents of children under the age of six, every four weeks.
Those eligible for the benefit receive £10 a week for each child they look after, with the SNP committing to doubling this over the course of the next term during the election campaign.
READ MORE: Fears Westminster's 'savage' cuts will neutralise Scottish Child Payment
The SNP's deputy Westminster leader Kirsten Oswald MP (below) asked DWP minister Will Quince in the House of Commons yesterday what assessment has been made of the potential effect to child poverty of removing the £20 uplift.
Quince replied: "No assessment has been made. Projecting the impact of an individual policy on poverty levels is complex and inherently speculative. It is difficult to isolate the specific impact of one policy and determine its effect on how many people fall below the poverty threshold, which itself changes over time."
Oswald described this as "simply not good enough" adding that "over 100 Tory MPs, former Tory Minister Lord Freud and over 50 anti-poverty charities" along with several Select Committees at Westminster, agreed the uplift should stay.
When asked how the Tories could justify cutting £20 a week for millions of families across the UK, Quince said that as "restrictions will be lifted and our economy will re-open" due to Covid vaccinations, the UK Government's "focus" will be on helping people back into work and increasing earnings "through progression".
READ MORE: DWP urged to write off £2.4 billion debts of tax credit claimants
David Linden MP (below), the SNP's spokesperson for work and pensions, said: “It speaks volumes that the UK government hasn’t seen fit to carry out an impact assessment of how the cuts to Universal Credit will affect child poverty – and it flies in the face of any narrative they try to spin that they are prioritising children and low-income families.
“All of the figures we have seen relating to the impending impact of the cuts make for dire reading – anti-poverty organisations have warned time and again that 700,000 people could be plunged into poverty, of which 300,000 are children. This could easily be prevented and more could be lifted out of poverty if the UK government just committed to making the Universal Credit uplift permanent and extending it to legacy benefits.
“But the Tories at Westminster seem content to continue with plans that will push people further into poverty, destitution and foodbanks. Scotland's children and families deserve better than this, which is why the SNP Scottish Government brought in the game-changing Scottish Child Payment, and then pledged to double it. But while the majority of welfare and employment powers remain reserved to Westminster, Scotland will continue to tackle poverty and inequality with one hand tied behind its back. Scotland needs the full powers of independence if we are to truly protect the families that live here.
“The Chancellor pledged at the start of the crisis that the UK Government would do ‘whatever it takes’ to help people. That rhetoric must be met with real action from the UK government – including implementing the SNP’s proposal to scrap the five-week wait, as well as axeing punitive benefit sanctions."
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